If someone asked you how you view your customers, would you say you focus on the short-term or the long-term? Be honest with yourself with the answer…we aren’t sharing it with your customers.
This is a tough question because we know intuitively what the answer should be…BOTH. But in reality it rarely is…and it’s not hard to tell which one you are focused on in your organization.
For example, if you are a B2C company and you are constantly making offers to attract new customers with special deals…but don’t offer the same deals to your existing customers, you are short-term. It’s tough to tell your existing customers they really matter when new ones get a better deal. If I am your customer, don’t offer new customers $50 off when they first purchase and give me nothing…your message is loud and clear…you care about new customers in the short-term instead of your existing long-term customers.
The same holds true for a long-term approach. If I am an existing customer and you are constantly rewarding me for being with you a long time, but don’t offer something to your new customers, it says you have a total long-term existing customer focus. While you might not think this is bad, it can be if you don’t have a new supply of customers coming in and existing ones leave. Take for example a private club that caters to their existing old members but offers nothing to attract new members. Eventually they go away…
While I use pricing as the example, think beyond money…this is where the real value to the customer is felt. What do you offer your customers in the experience, special treatment for the most loyal, or the biggest, or the ones with most frequent purchases? Think outside of direct cash and into the experience and you will find there are many things you can offer your new and existing customers to make them feel special. Think about how you make them feel with each interaction. Do they feel valued and honored and respected…regardless of new or existing?
These are some of the questions most companies I talk to rarely think about until asked. And if you want to know quickly what type of company you really are…look at what you measure and how you reward your employees. That will give you the quickest, and most accurate, assessment of what is important to you at the moment.
BTW, both can create great Word-of-Mouth for you. But the credibility of the longer term customer is substantially higher than the first time buyer. Something to think about if you are trying to build a strong Word-of-Mouth marketing system or customer centric social media strategy. There is much more passion in long-term relationships…and their passion is what gets communicated to thousands!
